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A female athlete’s weight isn’t relevant

I would like to start this letter off with a few personal details about myself: I am 5 feet and 9 inches tall and weigh 146 pounds. Why would I start off my letter in this way, when such matters have no relevance to who I am or my ability to write you, you might ask? That is my point entirely: they have zero relevance.

A few days ago, your newspaper published an article about an upcoming high school volleyball game. In it, the author covered Fort Frye’s standout volleyball players and the team’s progress as a whole. He then turned his attention to Dalton High School’s volleyball team, covering their roster and senior standouts as well. The difference here is that he also chose to report just one of these young ladies’ (very incorrect) weights. None of the other young ladies’ weights were reported — nor should they have been — because weight has absolutely no relevance to the sport of volleyball. I can’t think of any male or female sport, other than football and wrestling, in which both height and weight are reported. This inclusion came across as spiteful and mean-spirited, further so by it being obviously and blatantly incorrect. I certainly hope that was not the case.

It is a sad reality in our society that we, females in particular, are scrutinized for our weight. Whether someone weighs too much or too little is constantly a topic of conversation and gossip, and anyone from celebrities to teenagers can easily come under this scrutiny. It can be painful, embarrassing and demoralizing. I hope that in the future, your writers will take this into consideration and refrain from including such statistics in any articles in which weight has no relevance.

Earlier in this letter, I misspoke by saying that including my weight has no relevance. It is very relevant to me because including my weight helped me prevent my niece from being the only female whose weight was made public. She is not only a talented volleyball player, she is also a kind, thoughtful, and sweet young lady who did not deserve the embarrassment she went through because of this article and its misinformation.

Again, I hope that the author did not intend to be mean and I hope that in the future such stats are not reported, particularly for high school female athletes. I have no doubt there are many more relevant, important and inspiring things to highlight about our high school athletes.

Melody Granger

Dahlonega, Ga.

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